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I’ve lost track of how long I’ve spent working on this book. I spent 11 days brainstorming and mind mapping it with the author, Dr. Ellis Silver (an American ecologist and environmentalist), and ended up with a Mind Map the size of a wall (on my iPad), a comprehensive outline, and 900 pages of very rough notes Ellis had already compiled, based on feedback I’d been sending him from the first edition.

It’s taken me a good year since then to knock it all into shape, write it all out neatly, fill in the gaps, find supporting evidence where it was missing, edit it, lay it out for publishing, and design a cover.

On top of that, throughout this process, new discoveries were announced in the media pretty much every week – sometimes daily – and many of them not only needed to be included in the book, but had a profound effect on what had already been written. That, of course, led to lots of emails back and forth, and we went back to the drawing board again and again.

One reviewer who commented on the first edition on Amazon said writing this second edition would be impossible. And to be honest, she wasn’t far wrong. But I’m actually quite good at the impossible. It just takes me a while sometimes.

But at last, it’s finished, it’s all done, and it’s on sale!

I was aiming for around 350 pages but it’s so comprehensive and wide-ranging that it came out closer to 500. On top of that, there’s over 100 pages of references, as every major point is backed up with evidence – we felt that was extremely important when dealing with a subject of this kind. Plus there’s an expanded table of contents and a detailed index, bringing the whole thing up to 646 pages.

It’s a fascinating read, debunks many common misconceptions, and covers much more than the title implies. If you click on the cover image over on Amazon you’ll be able to see the expanded table of contents (and the first 50 pages of the actual text) and get a good idea of what it’s all about.

I hope you like the cover. I had to take a 3-month advanced Photoshop course to be able to do that. The course runs for another 2 weeks, and then I’m taking a 3-month graphic design and typography course.

If you’re interested in buying a copy of the book, it’s exclusive to Amazon and available on Kindle (£4.99/$4.99) and in paperback (£18.99/$24.99).

If you don’t have a Kindle ereader device, there’s a free Kindle app that you can install on any computer, tablet or smartphone. You can download it from the book’s Kindle page – see below.

The following links should take you to your nearest Amazon website, wherever you are in the world:

[UPDATE] There’s now a Facebook page for Humans are not from Earth, where we’ll be discussing the book – and the topics it covers – in more detail, and hopefully having some fun and interesting debates. Come and join us, even if you haven’t bought the book yet. And if you have bought it, there’s a Very Special Offer there for you!

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Today we’re delighted to welcome supernatural fantasy novelist and West Yorkshire lass E. Rachael Hardcastle to the ideas4writers blog. Her box set Finding Pandora – The Complete Collection (Books 1 – 4) is out this week.

Naturally, we wanted to know all about her, her ideas, and her writing and publishing experiences, and to see if she had any useful tips to share. Here’s what she had to say:

How do you find and evaluate ideas for characters, plots, dialogue, etc?

It’s an overused response but ideas just come to me. Sometimes after watching TV or reading a book I wonder what new swing I could put on that premise, so I’ll write it down and explore it later on. I never base characters on real people – I like to let the characters develop into who they need to be and usually fill in a profile sheet (as seen on my blog) to make sure I cover everything.

How did you get your latest idea? What made it good enough to write about?

My latest idea came to me after watching Jurassic Park and reading a book called The Great Zoo of China. I wanted to explore the theme park idea further, where the guests have to escape for some reason. I know the idea is popular because the movies do well, and to the best of my knowledge the books have done well too, so I thought I’d note it down and brainstorm some ideas. I haven’t started writing yet, but I know it’s a golden nugget because it crosses my mind every day.

How did you expand the idea?

Use brainstorming and mind mapping ideas

Use story beats to note everything down and build a story/characters

Note down the cliches I wanted to avoid and why

Watched the movies, read the books etc for research and to see how I can make my story unique

How do you do your research?

I prefer to use reference books rather than the internet, though I do often mix the two. I write fantasy, so some of my research is on myth, legends, signs and symbols, etc, which is fun, so I don’t actually mind this part of the process. I then keep notes in a ‘story beats’ outline document in OpenOffice, which I refer to whenever it is needed. I tried Scrivener but haven’t yet made friends with it.

Would you be willing to share with us some of the ideas you’ve rejected?

I very rarely reject ideas, I just note them down for use in a future project. I think my advice would be not to reject anything because even if it has been used before, there’s always a new way to approach it. They say there are no new ideas and I believe this is true to some extent – it’s what you do with them that counts.

Which book marketing ideas would you recommend?

I offer free content to prove I am trustworthy and helpful. I think marketing can be creepy when you’re posting ‘buy my book’ on social media. Your posts will be ignored and you might lose followers by doing this. Post free content on your blog, helpful notes and resources, and then offer your book at the end. For example, you could advertise your book at the end of a YouTube video that is free and offers the viewer a solution to a problem.

How did you get published?

I self-published my work after coming close to traditional publishing and turning down two offers. I decided I wanted to be in control and give it a shot myself. That way, I could learn the ins and outs and possibly turn hybrid later.

Have you had any really bad/bizarre rejections or reviews?

I once received a postal rejection (with my manuscript enclosed) and on the title page was the comment ‘We don’t publish poetry’. I had submitted my 50,000+ word high fantasy novel…

How do you find the time to write?

I think I steal the time to write after work and between chores at home. If you want to be a writer, you should write, and those who are serious will make the time.

Where do you write?

I have a home office. I keep all my reference books, tools and notes in that room so I can access anything I need quickly and easily.

We’re featuring the work of two members today – and I’ve met both of them in the bar at the Winchester Writers’ Conference (though it was a year apart as far as I can remember).

First up is Dr Ellis Silver, an American environmentalist and ecologist who (when I first met him) was in the UK acting as an adviser to a TV show. He was interested in writing books, so I quickly signed him up as a member of ideas4writers and sold him a copy of The Fastest Way to Write Your Book (2nd edition coming out in August). In the bar we ended up chatting about how humans might not have originated on Earth. Then he disappeared for about 5 years because the marine research park he runs in Texas with his uncle was smashed to bits by Hurricane Ike and they had to rebuild it.

But now he’s back, and I was astonished to learn that he’s turned our semi-drunken conversation into a book – and a good one too! As a special favour I reopened our publishing division (i4w2) and published it on Kindle for him. (I also edited it, designed the cover, and double-checked his research – which all seems surprisingly sound and convincing.)

Humans are not from Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence for and (mostly) against Man’s evolution on Planet Earth. The book includes an evaluation of the thirteen leading hypotheses, and discusses seventeen factors which suggest we are not from Earth. It also provides answers to questions such as: How did we get here? When did we get here? What is our home planet like? The most likely stars our home planet orbits. If the aliens are out there why can’t we detect them? and Are we the aliens? All the answers are based on current evidence and thinking in the scientific community and elsewhere.

Despite all the hard science (and that’s “hard” as in quantifiable, not as in difficult) the book is easy and hugely enjoyable to read, and can be read in a single morning/afternoon/evening. (Although if you start following up the information in the recommended reading list, as I did, you’ll probably lose several days – it’s intriguing stuff!)

Humans are not from Earth is available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (or any of the other Amazons – you’ll find it in the Kindle store).

A new edition of his novel Escaping Reality has just been published on Kindle, with a brand new cover (and some re-editing). Geoff describes it as “The Fugitive meets The 39 Steps with a dash of humour thrown in.” I can confirm that it is most definitely a fun read – some parts of it reminded me of the late Tom Sharpe’s novels. (R.I.P. Tom.)

And Geoff would like you to know that part two of his science fiction trilogy ARIA is also now available. ARIA: Returning Left Luggage continues the story of ARIA: Left Luggage. A highly infectious alien virus is devastating Earth’s population by causing retrograde amnesia. You forget how to do your job, where you work, where you live, and eventually even how to feed yourself. Services fail as no one knows how to run them any more, and the bodies are starting to pile up. Whatever will happen next?

In part two of the series we finally meet the aliens. Unlike most science fiction aliens, they ignore the remaining humans or make use of them for labour. They don’t bargain on encountering the psychotic Dr Antonio Menzies, and when he discovers how to use their telepathic-controlled gadgets, odd things happen. Meanwhile Ryder’s isolation group are in the South Pacific facing invasion problems of another kind. That, along with trouble in the French Alps and a runaway exotic weed, makes this a sequel you will not want to miss!

All of the books featured today are available in Kindle format only. If you don’t have a Kindle ebook reader you can still read the books. You just need to install the free Kindle app from Amazon’s website. It’s available for Windows PCs, Macs, and most smartphones and tablets.Click here to find out more.

is a collection of nine haunting stories: a woman is stalked by a caller; a young couple move into a house besieged by cats; a commuter is uplifted; a family man with dubious motivation aids an attractive neighbour; a backpacker vets prisoners’ letters; a jilted man becomes suicidal; a woman kills her husband and uses acid to dispose his body; a man worries about his wife’s fidelity; a blinded neo-Nazi discovers a new life.

Freebie alert!
Dave is giving away Kindle versions of three of his stories (CSR, Solitary and Skin) to anyone who will write a review and post it on Amazon.

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Long-term member Geoff Nelder‘s new novel ARIA: Left Luggage is now available in paperback and on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Published by LL-Publications, this intriguing science fiction novel is the first part of a trilogy, and it has a unique premise: infectious amnesia.

Here’s the blurb:

Today, Jack caught a bug at work. He catches a bus home. By the time he disembarks in the desert town of Rosamond, all the other passengers and the driver have fuzzy heads. Jack had caught an amnesia bug, and it’s infectious.

Imagine the ramifications:

The passengers arrive home infecting family; some shop en route infecting everyone they meet. The bus driver receives more passengers giving them change for last week’s prices and today’s amnesia. Some passengers just started work at the power plant, the water treatment works, the hospital, fire station. All to shut in weeks.

Ryder realizes what’s going on but can he persuade friends to barricade themselves in a secluded valley, hiding from the amnesia bug?

You might also be interested in the book I co-wrote with Geoff: How to Win Short Story Competitions. Available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com or as a PDF ebook from the ideas4writers website.

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Our regular correspondent Wendy Green has another book out: 50 Things You Can do Today To Manage Stress, published by Summersdale.

Wendy has now written ten books in the series on a variety of topics, including Menopause, Migraine, IBS and Eczema. Excerpts have featured in the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Express and most of the books have been translated into other languages including Greek, Italian, Serbian, Indonesian & Portuguese.

Wendy has also recently completed an ebook entitled Defeat Depression – your holistic guide to healing your mind and reconnecting with happiness. This was a joint venture with SuperLiving Online Pharmacy and is available in PDF and Kindle formats.

All of Wendy’s books offer easy-to-follow up-to-date information, as well as a wealth of practical advice and a holistic approach to managing common health problems.

Pages

Next Year’s News 2018

Over 5,000 newsworthy anniversaries in 2018 for you to write about (and make money from). Includes events, discoveries, inventions, and famous births and deathsClick here for full details

How to Win Short Story Competitions

Two competition judges discuss everything they know about entering, judging and (most importantly) winning short story competitions, in an easy-to-follow question and answer format.
Click here for full details

The fastest way to write your book

How professional authors write full-length,
best selling books in just days or weeks rather than months or years. And how you can do it too!Click here for full details